Reading Elena Poniatowska's Leonora in an Undergraduate Seminar
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Diálogo Volume 17 Number 1 Article 4 2014 Reading Elena Poniatowska's Leonora in an Undergraduate Seminar Aurora Camacho de Schmidt Swarthmore College Follow this and additional works at: https://via.library.depaul.edu/dialogo Part of the Latin American Languages and Societies Commons Recommended Citation Camacho de Schmidt, Aurora (2014) "Reading Elena Poniatowska's Leonora in an Undergraduate Seminar," Diálogo: Vol. 17 : No. 1 , Article 4. Available at: https://via.library.depaul.edu/dialogo/vol17/iss1/4 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Center for Latino Research at Via Sapientiae. It has been accepted for inclusion in Diálogo by an authorized editor of Via Sapientiae. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Reading Elena Poniatowska's Leonora in an Undergraduate Seminar Aurora Camacho de Schmidt Swarthmore College I live to the rhythm of my country and I cannot remain on the sidelines. I want to be there. I want to be part of it. I want to be a witness. I want to walk arm in arm with it. I want to hear it more and more, to cradle it, to carry it like a medal on my chest. Elena Poniatowska1 members. I have found no full critical treatments in Abstract: Description of an Honors literature seminar academic journals of this most recent novel written by focused on a selection of texts by prominent Mexican Poniatowska, but some reviews are extremely helpful.3 writer Elena Poniatowska, including critical strategies While the French translation was published in September involved in preparation, work required by students, and of 2012, an English one is not yet available.4 Poniatowska’s creative strategies in depicting rebellious women and other socially marginalized figures. A special THE SEMINAR focus on the biographical novel Leonora (2011) illustrates Many years ago, as I first contemplated the challenge the pedagogical possibilities of this novel, and students’ of offering a seminar on a topic in Latin American liter- analytical responses to the reading. ature to undergraduates, I thought the task was almost impossible. It seemed to me that most of our advanced Key Terms: Elena Poniatowska, Honors seminars, students majoring or minoring in Spanish still needed Mexican literature, Mexican art, Leonora Carrington, foundational courses, more than a focused exploration contextual mapping, novelistic montage of a single theme or author. I was also aware of the considerable time undergraduates must devote both to Spanish-language training and the development of writing he spring of 2013 was my last semester as an and analytical skills, before they are ready to do advanced Tactive professor in the classroom, so in addition work in literature. In spite of those concerns, the experi- to teaching a favorite introductory course, I chose to bid ence of teaching seminars changed my perspective. The farewell to Swarthmore College by teaching a seminar I had Spanish Program at Swarthmore College has enjoyed developed in 2008, “Elena Poniatowska: la hija de México.”2 wonderful results from the seminars it teaches every spring I was born in Mexico and retain Mexican citizenship. For semester, rotating among the program’s faculty. over fifty years, “Mexico’s daughter” has always spoken to A seminar, the most advanced course at the college, me about “the rhythm of our country.” I am grateful for receives two credits, while other courses generally receive Elena Poniatowska and her work, and I read her critically. one. This means that seminar work is the equivalent of I have translated two of her non-fiction books and studied half of a student’s load for the semester. Participation is most of the others. I wanted to pay homage to the writer limited to a maximum of twelve students, almost always and witness of history, and at the same time, share her juniors and seniors. Professors admit students to seminars literary gift with a group of strong students. on the basis of previous preparation, but in the Modern In this essay I would like to talk about why reading Languages and Literatures Department admission is critically and collectively this particular author in an not limited to majors and minors. Seminar topics have undergraduate seminar can provide a deeply enriching included Mario Vargas Llosa, Federico García Lorca, and experience, and why the novel Leonora (2011) offers great Jorge Luis Borges. Over the years, I have taught three opportunities for fruitful discussions in the classroom. I seminars: “Visiones narrativas de Carlos Fuentes,” “Poesía will conclude with the ideas of two students who wrote y política: los mundos de Pablo Neruda, Octavio Paz y papers about it, and the general reactions of seminar Ernesto Cardenal,” and the one on Elena Poniatowska.5 Diálogo Articles 9 Aurora Camacho de Schmidt Volume 17 Number 1 Spring 2014 Students are delighted by the opportunity to get to weeks to reading short stories and foundational critical know an author in depth, and to see how substantial work before seminar members had to present papers to literary criticism enriches the adventure of reading and the class. In that period, we also studied the Mexican analyzing essays and narrative within a coherent corpus. Revolution and its aftermath, and worked on some aspects The sociopolitical context of texts offers another important of Latin American feminism. As the semester progressed, source of intellectual curiosity and excitement during students received introductory notes for all texts and a few the term. In fact, Latin American Studies minors and questions to guide their reading. Sometimes I also sent special majors are frequently drawn to these seminars, them specialized vocabulary lists in advance, knowing contributing to their interdisciplinary dimension. much of the vernacular contained in certain narratives In all seminars, participants become a learning team. or essays would not be included in dictionaries. In my particular pedagogical practice, they write papers From the fourth week on, two students presented individually, but prepare research and oral presentations their individual papers on a given text at each session;8 in pairs. In class, they often subdivide in smaller groups for naturally the rest of the class had also read the book. special collaborations, for example, providing an answer For each book by Poniatowska, there were at least two to a question about the text under consideration and then papers and sometimes three of them. The theses in those testing it against other groups’ results. Members rely on papers structured a good part of class discussion. One each other and come to know their peers’ strengths, such as day before the seminar met, everyone received the papers familiarity with Mexican culture or history, knowledge of electronically, read them critically, and prepared written a particular literary perspective, a knack for remembering questions and comments for their authors, and occa- narrative detail, or the ability to articulate an incisive sionally for the rest of the class. Questions were usually critical point. This was clearly visible in class discussions, posted in Moodle, the course management system. At and—I was glad to see—in some final essays of my last each session throughout the semester, at least two pairs of seminar, where several members quoted other students’ students gave Power Point presentations on critical articles previous papers. Even when not all students operate at the from academic journals, followed by in-class discussion. same level of linguistic or analytical proficiency, they are Students identified those articles on their own, through all able to make significant contributions to each other’s the Modern Language Association’s (MLA) database, or understanding, and certainly to mine. other electronic search engines, but I also uploaded some Seminars are part of the flagship Honors Program articles on Moodle. While the articles could be written in at Swarthmore College, introduced in 1922.6 They were Spanish or English, all presentations and seminar work designed to provide an experience of independent learning were conducted in Spanish. In addition to Poniatowska’s to students eager and able to participate in an intense texts, a collection of nearly sixty critical books was in colloquium on a given field, and develop such mastery reserve at McCabe Library throughout the term, expanding of that field that a scholar from a different college or uni- students’ sources of articles.9 Librarian Pam Harris was versity could examine the student, in writing and orally, always at hand to aid anyone who needed help. at the end of his or her eighth semester. As the program We read texts in this order: De noche vienes (1979), has evolved, seminars have been opened to students who Tlapalería (2003), Querido Diego, te abraza Quiela (1978), do not participate in Honors examinations. Our seminar La noche de Tlatelolco (1971), Hasta no verte, Jesús mío had ten students, and only one was in Honors.7 (1969), Tinísima (1992), Paseo de la Reforma (1996), Las Each student wrote two essays and a more extensive siete cabritas (2000), and finally Leonora. In 2008, we had term paper. Students expressed preferences about the book included La piel del cielo (2001) and El tren pasa primero they wished to work on, and I respected their wishes as best (2007), but I exchanged them for the last two for my final as I could, assigning two of Poniatowska’s books to each seminar, although it was a difficult choice.10 of them. They had plenty of freedom to choose a critical In addition, students made illustrated oral presen- angle on the texts they would write about. The subject tations, individually prepared, on a selected text of their matter of the term paper, however, asked them to identify choice written by Poniatowska on visual representations a critical perspective that could be applied to two or more of Mexico in the photography of Mariana Yampolsky, of the works read in the seminar.